Just Opened: Patricia Field

If, there are no second acts in American lives, as F. Scott Fitzgerald once opined, Patricia Field hasn't really needed one. Though its been 40 years since she opened her famous boutique on 8th Street in Greenwich Village, Field has managed to stay relevant and even lead the pack while other 1960s iconoclasts have vanished.

Her work as a costume designer in film and television, most famously on Sex and the City, has introduced the Field aesthetic to the world. In 1996, Field moved her headquarters to SoHo as she opened her second boutique called Hotel Venus and she closed her original store. Earlier this month, her eponymous store was reborn, this time on the booming Bowery in the East Village. For Field the choice was a natural. "It was time to move and all my clients wanted to see me back on the East side," said Field. "Also, the Bowery is open and sunlit, and it's in the infancy of a restoration of this historical neighborhood."

For those who loved Field's stores in the past, her newest creation will not disappoint. "It is a newborn child. What more can a mother say other than it will be a tribute to the decades of Patricia Field," she said. Designers to be shown in the store include Patricia Field Original, Ash and Diamonds Japan, Heatherette, Hysteric Glamour, O.K. Citizen, White Trash Charms, and a host of other new designers and Field discoveries. In addition, the two-story outpost will include a full-service salon.

The store itself is just the kind of brightly-colored funhouse you'd expect, designed by Field herself and featuring the must-be-seen Patricia Field Art Collection, 1975-1990. Many artists have collaborated with the store already, including De La Vega, Jonathan Blessler, and Raul Chelstad. Any other special events we can expect from the store in the coming months? "We will have many. I have built a house of party, so stay posted!"

Ever the renegade, downtown fashion icon and accomplished costume designer Patricia Field finds a new home on the Bowery